Welcome to the website of the Supplier Assurance Framework Project. Supplier assurance refers to the confidence that buyers and suppliers have in each other when working together to manage risk.  The better the risk management by people in safety, engineering and procurement, the greater the level of confidence.   This relies on having the right culture and behaviours in place. Supplier assurance arrangements, through a combination of in-house systems and third party schemes, support this objective.  However, many in the rail industry consider them to be complex and confusing for existing and new suppliers to the GB mainline rail industry. Research has shown that there is an opportunity to capture an estimated annual time-cost saving of £35million, which broadly equates to some 375 person years of effort, by making supplier assurance arrangements more simple, effective and efficient. In response, to enable long term cost reduction and value-for-money, the Supplier Assurance Framework Project is aiming for a single set of integrated arrangements which are effective, efficient and easy to understand. It will require railway supply chain support in order to succeed, but has the potential to become a world-class example of supply chain co-operation and success. The project is being managed by RSSB on behalf of the whole mainline rail industry including Network Rail, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), freight operating companies, rolling stock leasing companies and suppliers. As the project develops, relevant documents, reports and news will appear on this website.  For more information contact enquirydesk@rssb.co.uk